Construction crews work July 1 on rebuilding the southeast corner of Southeast 10th Avenue and Southeast Walnut Street to meet ramp standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act, part of the wide-ranging improvements along the Hillsboro portion of Tualatin Valley Highway.
(Michal Thompson/The Argus)

Construction has started on a paving and improvement project that state officials say will pose inevitable headaches for commuters and business owners in Hillsboro during the next two years.

Oregon 8, better known as Tualatin Valley Highway, is in need of significant repairs on more than three miles of road through downtown Hillsboro, according to city and state officials.

The city and Oregon Department of Transportation are teaming up on the project, which includes "significant construction during the day and night from June 2013 to fall 2015," according to the project's website. ODOT's share is $12.7 million. Hillsboro will replace aging water lines to the tune of roughly $1.8 million, and $2.6 million in stormwater improvements.

The real mess, in terms of lane closures and traffic snarls, will begin later this fall, when work starts on the couplet of Oak and Baseline streets.

"Please be patient," Wayne Statler, ODOT project manager, said. "We're trying to do it as fast as we can."

In other news around Washington County:

FIREWORKS SCARE PETS: The busiest week for fireworks is also the busiest time of year for the Bonnie L. Hays Small Animal Shelter -- and it's no coincidence.

"Neighborhood fireworks are a nightmare for pets," said Deborah Wood, manager of Washington County Animal Services.

The loud booms scare many pets, Wood said, and since warm weather is in the forecast, open windows could provide an escape for panicked animals.

This year the shelter will be open again on July 4 as a holding center for found dogs until they can be reunited with their owners.

SEXUAL ASSAULT OF HORSES: A Manning man was sentenced to more than seven years in prison Monday and will have to register as a sex offender for sneaking into a barn near Banks and sexually assaulting two horses.

In May, Washington County Circuit Court Judge Jim Fun convicted Antonio Hall-Rivas, 47, on five counts of second-degree burglary and eight counts of sexual assault of an animal.

Fun ordered a pre-sentencing investigation to provide more information on Hall-Rivas. The investigation, which included two psychological evaluations, yielded no signs of mental or emotional disturbance, Fun said Monday at Hall-Rivas' sentencing hearing. It did show that he is intelligent and capable.

During the last year, Hall-Rivas came to the property west of Banks, brushed the horses, fed them candy and made them comfortable with him. After he'd gained their trust, authorities said, Hall-Rivas began sexually touching the horses.

Candy wrappers, cigarette butts and footprints littered the barn and property, alerting the homeowners to his presence. The horses' owner twice spotted a man in the barn before he ran off.

GUN ACCIDENT: The Washington County Sheriff's Office said a 30-year-old man accidentally shot himself in the hand Monday while cleaning a .45-caliber handgun inside his apartment.

An emergency crew responded to the 4900 block of Southwest Oleson Road at 12:49 p.m. and later took the man to Providence St. Vincent Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries, according to Pete Scott, a spokesman for Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue.

Sgt. Bob Ray, a spokesman for the sheriff's office, said the man violated the first rule of gun ownership -- "Treat every weapon as a loaded weapon" -- but would likely not be charged with a crime.

The bullet struck an exterior wall, and, although it was reckless not to make sure the gun was empty, no one else was injured or had been placed in imminent danger, Ray said.

The sting took place between 4:30 and 9 p.m. with the help of underage volunteers from the Washington County Sheriff's Office's Explorer Program who, police said, had been instructed to answer questions about their ages truthfully.

Police records show that those cited for furnishing alcohol to a minor were Dong Bum Baek, 23, of Hae Rim Korean Restaurant; Whitney Hey-Phoades, 32, of McCormick's Fish House & Bar; and Kimberly R. Pool, 39, of Center Market.

A woman who picked up the phone at Center Market identifying herself as Pool declined to comment.

DEAD BEES: Oregon state officials still haven't determined whether Safari, the insecticide implicated in the deaths of 50,000 bees in Wilsonville, also caused the deaths of hundreds of bees in Hillsboro last month.

Despite imposing restrictions on the use of 18 insecticides with the active ingredient dinotefuran late Friday, the Oregon Department of Agriculture isn't ready to point the finger at Safari in Hillsboro.

"We have not made any positive confirmation at this time," Dale Mitchell, program manager in the agricultural department's pesticide compliance and enforcement wing, said.

Investigators are still conducting interviews and gathering more information, Mitchell said. The state also set up a website with more information about the two incidents.

The department gathered additional environmental samples from the site, Southeast Washington street between Southeast Fourth and Fifth Avenues, where city officials first discovered the dead bees.